Monday, July 29, 2013

It was a year ago yesterday that the 4-letter word "JUMP," the secret element to the 2012 Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival's 21-Day Film Competition, delivered the concept of Guts Guts Guts Guts' short film "Clipped," changed our lives, and inspired a new generation of film and music that lives on in the hearts and minds of all of Earth's people. The following day, these important words were committed to a Microsoft Word document:

13. Interior, DancefloorJP and OTHERS are lined up boy/girl/boy/girl on a dancefloor at a wedding. An obnoxious wedding dance song is playing, but they are having an enjoyable time. The group is following the instructions of the song.

JP VO: There's no celebration.

SONG VOX: Ladies, shake your butt!

The ladies shake their butts.

SONG VOX: Boys, you've got to jump!

JP JUMPS and his mood immediately changes.

SONG VOX: Now, everybody, scream!

Everyone lets out a fun scream, except for JP who yells with primal anger. Extreme Zoom in on JP's mouth as the dance music fades.
A week later, the word "butt" became "rump" (because, duh, it rhymes better), and Kirk recorded a barebones version of the song in Garageband during his lunch break. That night, we rented out a tiny Karaoke room in Koreatown and shot Scene 13 with the 120 BPM of a baby "Rump Jump" playing for our dancing actors. The song would eventually have some party beats and sound effects added to the mix, but within the original synth sounds and vocals remained the soul of the tune.

After Guts Guts Guts Guts had a private premiere of the finished "Clipped" for the cast and crew that helped make it possible, we made a pilgrimage back to a nearby Karaoke house, where an impromptu version of "Rump Jump" was performed. Here is that magical moment: